


fixed on your hand of gold

by softshocks



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, Princess/Knight AU, self-indulgent feudal nonsense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28100127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softshocks/pseuds/softshocks
Summary: Much to Gahyeon’s newly-surfaced fear, Siyeon kneels before her. “My loyalty is yours,” she takes Gahyeon’s hand in her gloved one, looking up at her - and Gahyeon can’t explain how Siyeon’s gaze is kind, but also painfully piercing. She lowers her gaze but only slightly as she kisses the ring on Gahyeon’s finger. “Your highness.”
Relationships: Lee Gahyeon/Lee Siyeon
Comments: 41
Kudos: 122





	fixed on your hand of gold

**Author's Note:**

> The crazy worm in my brain wishes it could stop writing historical fics but it could not
> 
> For gio, who is pushing the [gahsing agenda ](https://twitter.com/juggosipe0/status/1337858630046113792?s=20)so hard 
> 
> Animatics by sara! [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blETGRdaGFs)
> 
> Find me @hausofbora on twt!

The attempt on her life had been a harrowing experience for her parents. They had ordered a fruitless sweep of the castle and castle grounds, and a thorough sifting through the castle staff. 

Gahyeon, however, is only severely inconvenienced. 

“Do I really have to stay here tonight?” She pouts, and Minji, the head of the royal guards, looks away. Any given day, she would have conceded with whatever request Gahyeon asked of her. 

“I’m sorry, princess,” she says as she shuts the windows of the spare room where they’re keeping her for tonight until they find out more about the assailant. “This will have to do while we try to keep you safe.” 

Minji had brought her favorite books and scrolls and board games to keep her entertained, which she didn’t really have to do, but knowing Gahyeon is easily bored and will be up to no good if kept at that state. 

Gahyeon nods, still pouting, but she lies down on the somewhat dusty bed and tries to prepare for the night. 

_Stupid assassins,_ she thinks, lying on her back to stare at the high ceiling. 

-

“Remind me again why I have to be here,” she says to Yoohyeon, who stands by her. The scholar, one of her dearest friends, is back from her travels with her childhood friend-fellow scholar-lover Yubin for a few weeks until they set off to see the world again. 

“Your father wanted to welcome the general,” Yoohyeon replies and Gahyeon rolls her eyes. She had no idea why her father loved pretentious things like this. The autumn chill is crawling into the fur pelt she wears to shield her from it.

The gates open and the fanfares play, and the entourage that had recently come from the battle in the south and won it by a landslide thanks to the leadership of General Kim Bora and her admirals, whom Gahyeon had never met before. 

The entourage rides towards them in their horses and full silver armor, Gahyeon’s family’s symbols emblazoned on its front. Gahyeon admits it’s terribly majestic when their steeds come to a halt and the three knights dismount. Bora removes her helmet first, kneeling before them in a low, courteous bow. 

“General,” her father says, “you have brought us much joy over your victory.” 

Kim Bora looks incredibly proud of herself as she grins, and gestures to the knights beside her. “Could not have been achieved without this fleet, sire. May I introduce my friends, Fireguard Handong,” the woman in question steps away from the steed, takes off her helmet, and bows. She was very beautiful. “And Wolfguard, Siyeon.” The knight in question takes off her helmet as she kneels and…

Siyeon wears a very stern, stoic expression on her face but she is frankly one of the most beautiful people Gahyeon has ever seen, with her short, black hair and her sharp features.

Noticing that Gahyeon cannot stop looking at her, Siyeon… 

Smiles. Small, warm, friendly, so unlike the woman who had just taken off her helmet only moments ago.

There’s a sudden patch of warmth that spreads through her stomach when she does, and Gahyeon has to look away. 

“I have heard of your valiant efforts to defend our land,” the queen says. “You will be rewarded for it. We, however, request your assistance during your stay here until the next battle.” 

Bora raises her head from her bow. “What is it, your majesty?”

“I would like to request your personal protection, as we had an attempt on our lives a few days prior.” 

Bora looks at Siyeon and Handong, who nod. “We would be honored,” she and Handong kneel in front of the king and queen, taking their hands to kiss the rings. “I am at your service, your majesty.” 

Much to Gahyeon’s newly-resurfaced fear, Siyeon kneels before her. “My loyalty is yours," she takes Gahyeon’s hand in her gloved one, looking up at her - and Gahyeon can’t explain how Siyeon’s gaze is kind, but also painfully piercing. She lowers her gaze but only slightly as she kisses the ring on Gahyeon’s finger. “Your highness.” 

Everything else falls away, and Gahyeon is only brought back to the present when Yoohyeon elbows her and says, “your highness, your ears are red.” 

Gahyeon cups them and shoves Yoohyeon out of the way. 

-

“You know, you don’t have to follow me everywhere,” Gahyeon says, flipping her hair a little to emphasize her point. She has several chapters of the book on the General’s War board game, and she’d like to do it in peace, without Siyeon walking beside her and making so much noise because of her chainmail and the bare bones of her armor. 

Siyeon, the bastard, only laughs. “My lady, it is - quite literally - my job to follow you around until the castle is deemed safe.” 

Well… she’s right about that. Not that Gahyeon is too pleased with it. The spare room’s study has the board game laid out before them, and Siyeon has been eyeing the pieces curiously ever since she stepped in after Gahyeon had dressed. 

“It’s a strategy game.”

The Wolfguard laughs again. “That much I deduced. Will you teach me?”

Honestly, Gahyeon had been lonely whenever Yoohyeon and Yubin leave for their travels, so she gestures to the seat in front of her and teaches the knight - whom Gahyeon finds to be a teasing cheat that uses her painfully good looks to get away with it, but also a quick study that understands the complex mechanics of the strategy game.

Gahyeon can’t even pretend to dislike her, not when she sleeps on the spare divan laid for her near Gahyeon’s bed, to ensure that she’s safe. 

-

She finds a friend in Siyeon, who is a balance of the brave and valiant and stoic Wolfguard and a lovely and charming and incredibly shy person, who likes feeding the birds with Gahyeon on their morning walks and is rewarded with several of them perching on her head. 

She spends every day with Siyeon and finds that it’s impossible to dislike her and impossible to pretend she doesn’t like her.

Unfortunately for Gahyeon, the brave, valiant, and stoic Wolfguard is incredibly dense. 

There were many times she had wanted Siyeon to hold her or kiss her, and Siyeon would barely budge. She would blush whenever Gahyeon is forward, yes, but she does nothing. 

_She sounds lovely,_ Yoohyeon had written in her letters. _But I do not presently want to be you._

Gahyeon thumps her head on her bedpost as Siyeon snores lightly on the divan, which she’d moved closer to the bed.

-

“Would you like to learn how to defend yourself?” Siyeon offers one morning. They had been on their way to the library to play a few rounds of General’s War, which Siyeon had slowly been improving on. 

(“Because of her highness,” she says, reaching over to kiss her hand. 

At this point, she doesn’t know what Siyeon is about, and if the obliviousness was only a front.

This is most likely untrue, given the blank, unassuming look on Siyeon's face whenever Gahyeon tries her hand at flirting with her.)

“This is incredibly heavy,” Gahyeon complains, and while her favored royal bow was hefty, it was nothing compared to the weight of Siyeon’s silver saber, gifted to her by her father upon joining the knights. 

Siyeon looks up, and it should be criminal to look so good in the linen of the common people. She looks so handsome, and how Siyeon isn’t married yet escapes Gahyeon completely. 

The knight laughs, light like windchimes, as if she wasn’t the feared _Wolfguard_ , but just… the young woman she is. “How about you try to focus the movement in the hilt?” 

“How?” Asks Gahyeon, and she regrets it immediately, because Siyeon steps behind her, her bound chest against Gahyeon’s back, her breath against Gahyeon’s right ear and her hands on Gahyeon’s arms. 

Gahyeon almost drops the weapon, but remains in place. 

“Like this,” Siyeon murmurs, her hand over Gahyeon’s in a solid grip, angling upwards to hold the sword better. It’s still heavy, but it’s manageable, and Siyeon lets go of her hand to put it on her waist, angling her a little to adjust her position. 

Gahyeon feels the back of her neck heat up and her self-control waning. “Good girl,” Siyeon says, satisfied, and Gahyeon drops the sword along with her dignity. 

“Nervous, your highness?” Siyeon teases, stepping away, and completely oblivious about her effect on Gahyeon and probably other women. “It’s not that terrifying once you get used to it. Believe me. Look at me!” 

She has the most ridiculous smile on her face, and Gahyeon hates being flustered by this borderline idiot who is so ridiculously charming and attractive. She picks up the saber and tries again, holding up a hand to Siyeon when she moves closer.

“No, it’s fine, stay there,” Gahyeon says, and Siyeon does as she orders. “Good pup.” 

Behind her, Siyeon hums, liking the nickname. She tries to remove the memory of Siyeon’s body against hers and focuses on the blade. In one fell swoop, she holds it up, then slashes at the bag of sand to make a clean x-mark, with its contents spilling out. 

Satisfied, Gahyeon looks back at Siyeon who smiles proudly. “See? Not so difficult. The nerves of the first time can be a lot. You’re a natural, princess.” 

Gahyeon does her best not to flip her hair and smile, but fails. She does exactly that, looking at Siyeon - who still does not realize that Gahyeon had been nervous because of _her._

“I know,” Gahyeon says. 

“I never doubted it,” Siyeon replies, and tosses Gahyeon her favored bow. 

-

Siyeon shifts again in her sleeping area, and Gahyeon bites her lip. 

What would she think of her offer? Would she think it crazy? Too forward? Gahyeon doesn’t know, but she doesn’t want Siyeon to sleep the way she does when she’d briefly heard Siyeon complain about body aches from training.

“Siyeon,” she calls out, her voice a little rough. 

The knight sits up immediately, attentive and alert. 

_Well,_ Gahyeon thinks, _here goes nothing._

“You don’t have to sleep there.” 

Siyeon raises a brow. “Then where shall I stay, princess?” 

_The most oblivious knight in the entire realm,_ she realizes, and Gahyeon is tempted to make a sarcastic quip or two but Siyeon looks so soft and handsome and Gahyeon is in love with her brave and valiant and charming Wolfguard. 

“Here, with me,” she says, finally, and Siyeon only stares. Gahyeon thinks she can see the blush crawling up her neck. 

“Y-your highness,” stutters Siyeon. “I couldn’t possibly…”

Gahyeon is already moving a little to the side to make space, and despite her protests, Siyeon stands by the bed. 

“Go on,” Gahyeon looks up at Siyeon, who still appears disbelieving but the need to have a good night’s sleep on a good bed… 

Siyeon slips under the covers and maintains a safe and respectable distance that Gahyeon absolutely despises. 

Even with her back turned against Siyeon, because she doesn’t know if she can handle seeing Siyeon this close and illuminated by the candles that burn through the night, she moves backward until her back slots onto Siyeon’s front. 

“You can touch me,” Gahyeon mumbles, already falling asleep from the warmth of Siyeon’s body, which is rigid. “Don’t be shy.”

Siyeon, then, relaxes. It’s not their first time to embrace, given their growing closeness, but the bed, the warmth, the way Siyeon's breath hitches when Gahyeon snuggles into her body and takes Siyeon's hands to put it around her…

Arms come around her slowly, wrapping securely around her body, and Gahyeon has never felt safer her entire life than now in Siyeon’s arms.

-

It becomes an unspoken and regular occurrence, and Gahyeon realizes from that moment on that she cannot sleep without Siyeon near her, or Siyeon’s arms around her.

-

“Your majesty, your majesty!”

Gahyeon and Siyeon turn to the squire who brings a rolled-up piece of parchment. “A message from the queen.” 

She raises an eyebrow. Her mother would have summoned her directly, not write something like this. 

Siyeon notices it as well. She holds Gahyeon’s hand behind her in a tight grip. “I haven’t seen you before, boy. Which estate do you come from?” 

The squire blanches. Then it all moves too fast. 

What Gahyeon remembers is the man pulling a piece of metal from the scroll and moving to attack her, but Siyeon had pulled her away to land on the ground, blocking his access to Gahyeon with her own body. 

Dread and worry fill her as she watches them struggle, and Siyeon successfully disarms him and uses the metal blade to let it pass through his stomach with a swift, unforgiving slice.

In an instant, he falls to his knees. 

Gahyeon can only watch as Siyeon turns back to her, concerned and with a broken nose, and a gash on her waist that’s oozing the same blood with a tinge of purple as the assailant who lay on the grounds of the castle garden.

 _Poison,_ she recognizes with dread, and she screams for help as Siyeon collapses into her arms. 

-

“She’ll be fine,” the apothecarist says to all of them, who surround Siyeon’s bed. Bora is deathly pale from worry and so is Handong, and Gahyeon is sure she looks the same. “All the poison has been flushed from her system. She may need sleep to balance her humors.” 

The three of them take turns watching over her, and Gahyeon finds it terribly ironic that she now watches over Siyeon instead of the other way around. 

-

“Princess?” is Siyeon’s first words after spending almost a fortnight asleep. Gahyeon raises her head from her arms when Siyeon looks up at her, her eyes hazy and glassy but alive, alive, alive. 

“Siyeon, oh, you’re all right,” Gahyeon says, the tears falling. “I thought you were never going to wake up.” 

“And never see you again?” She says, quietly, and her smile is faint but her eyes are so playful. 

They spend the next few days helping her recover, and when the wound doesn’t hurt too much for her to sit up, Gahyeon kisses Siyeon like she has always wanted. 

Their first kiss is sweet and warm and also a pleasant burn because something about Siyeon makes Gahyeon feel so incredibly warm she feels she can fly. 

“Sorry I’m a little dumb,” Siyeon laughs when she pulls away. 

“I forgive you,” Gahyeon says, already leaning in close for more kisses to make up for lost time, “just keep kissing me, pup.” 

Siyeon does as she’s told. 

-

After months of ensuring the threat has been neutralized and Minji has guaranteed the safety of the palace, it’s time for Siyeon, Bora, and Handong to go. There is another war in the south, and Siyeon’s duty is to defend it with the king with everything she has.

It’s a tearful goodbye, and Gahyeon clings to Siyeon’s body the entire night. Siyeon, despite her own tears, wipes Gahyeon’s away first. 

“I promise to write to you, my sweet,” Siyeon tells her, and her laugh is a low rumble against Gahyeon’s ear, as she lay on her chest crying. “Every day I will think of you and keep fighting.” 

Gahyeon only cries, feels her heart cave in, but she nods anyway and hangs on to Siyeon’s words of hope.

-

_My love,_

_The war will come to an end soon. I know it. It has been precisely six moons since we have seen each other but it might as well be an eternity._

_I long to be beside you, and to protect you, and love you with everything I have._

_Did you know your father found out about us? I kept one of your shorter and sweeter letters with me when we were off to battle, and the chances of him seeing your writing were slim but he still did._

_He told me that you deserve a brave warrior, and I deserve the sweetest, most brilliant princess. He’s very pleased you found a formidable opponent to your beloved strategy games._

_Little does he know you, too, are a warrior._

_I love you, and long to see you._

_The days remaining until we see each other again will be the longest of my life._

_Yours for eternity,_

_Your devoted Wolfguard_

-

“Siyeon!” Gahyeon says, running towards the knight - her dress be damned. She hadn’t slept all night, worried sick about Siyeon despite the battle being fairly successful, partially under her command. 

Siyeon looks in her direction, and the stoic _Wolfguard_ shifts into the endeared and enamored face Gahyeon had come to know. “Princess!” 

The front of her body collides against the armor, but it’s nothing if it meant having Siyeon close, having Siyeon lift her off the ground to twirl her in the air, laughing like the children they no longer were. 

“Did you miss your General’s War game partner, your highness?” Siyeon asks, her arms still around Gahyeon. Some of her hair sticks to her forehead from the armor, and some soot on her cheeks, but it’s endearing and makes her look so handsome. 

“Never in a million years,” Gahyeon teases, even if she has her arms around Siyeon, and wants Siyeon close for the rest of the month - their duties be damned. 

There is the silence of just Siyeon gazing at her, and Gahyeon flushes under her attention. “Marry me,” she says, quietly, pressing a quick and fleeting kiss to her lips. “I want you to be my wife.” 

Gahyeon is only taken by surprise for a moment because she had wanted this too. Wanted it so much it hurt. 

“Yes,” she answers Siyeon, kissing her sweetly that it makes the tips of her ears burn with affection and her ribcage to open and let her heart soar. “Yes, I’ll marry you, a thousand times if I have to.” 

“Good thing you only have to do it once,” Siyeon jokes, and Gahyeon only rolls her eyes and kisses her knight again, and again, and again. 

**Author's Note:**

> I realized I skipped on a large chunk of text where bora introduces siyeon and handong as the wolfguard and fireguard respectively but anyway...


End file.
